Let Me Thank You
by FrozenArrogance
Summary: Link has saved Hyrule, and everyone is in his debt, Prince Ralis would like to personally thank him for his heroic deeds. I'm not sure whether it should be multi-chapter or a one-shot, so it's listed as complete as of now. M/M Do not like? Leave now. OOC. Anonymous reviews are allowed.


**Disclaimer: I do NOT own, nor do I make money off of this fan-fiction. Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo. **

**Warning: This is a Boy x Boy fan-fiction, if you do not like and/or support that: do not read this, nor will you flame because of it. **

**Author's Note: This is my first attempt at uploading an actual fan-fiction. As every beginner has stated, 'Please review this, and tell me how I may become better.' As of now; I am not sure if I may make multiple chapters of this story it all comes down to how I feel about it. That being said, onward!**

**Setting: This story takes place a couple of weeks after the defeat of Ganondorf in Twilight Princess.**

~~~~Start~~~~

"Send this to him," A smooth, young voice commanded. "The name of the recipient is labeled on the envelope. I take it you know where to find him?" Giving the envelope to his fellow messenger; the temporarily-unknown stranger took extreme care when handing over said item.

"Yes, my King. Right away." Came another -less commanding- voice. With that: the commissionaire took hold of the seemingly-precious envelope and after a short respectful bow the sound of leaving footsteps could be heard around the somewhat large chamber only to be replaced by the sound of a splash of water signaling that the messenger had taken to water as a means of transportation.

"I just hope this is a good idea... Mother, please... guide me through this." Closing his eyes the supposed King held his hands close to his chest almost in an almost praying manner. 'May the message be safely delivered.'The King thought opening his eyes, he'd now make plans on somehow leaving his domain unnoticed and making a little trip to Kakariko Village.

~~~~Scene Change: Ordon Village~~~~

A pair of ecstatic feet hurriedly ran towards the tiny village's ranch. Carrying exciting, but unexpected news.

"Link! Link!" A child-like voice came from the distance. A blond head turned to see whom it was that was calling his name. After realizing it was Talo: Link got off his horse -Epona- and went to meet Talo with a smile and wave. "Link! Link! You're not gonna believe it! Some Zora showed up asking for you!"

Of course Link was beyond bewildered at why a Zora, of all creatures, would just appear asking for him. Nodding to Talo, Link left him in-charge of taking care of Epona while he was gone- much to the youth's displeasure.

Exiting the ranch he could already see the crowd of people huddled around something in their fishing pond -or at least, that's what Link used it for- seeing it always reminded Link of the time the monkey stole Uli's baby cradle. That memory brought a smile to his lips. How did such a thing come to happen? That, he will never know.

After reaching the group of villagers he noted there was, indeed, a Zora amongst the group of people. As soon as he made his appearance the mysterious Zora had taken notice of him and walked to him whilst shuffling around what seemed like a Reekfish handbag. After a short moment of looking around his bag he took out an envelope; a fancy-looking envelope, to be exact.

"This is from Prin -pardon my mistake- I meant; this is on behalf of King Ralis of the Zora," The Zora bowed. "He asked I hand-deliver this to you, 'It is of great importance.' He stated. I do trust his word."

Link, while completely taken aback by the sudden unfolded events, sub-consciously nodded to the messenger letting him know he had understood. The Zora commissionaire bowed quickly before turning to walk out of the village quickly.

"Well, Link? Are you going to open the message?" Rusl inquired, obviously curious as to why the King of Zoras had sent him a letter. The Hylian teenager snapped out of his puzzlement and opened the letter as cautiously as possible not wanting to tear the message inside. After successfully retrieving the letter from the envelope he began to read it.

"_Greetings Link,_

"_I sent this message to you to inform you that although you have saved the Zora people from extinction: I have yet to thank you properly. I wish to meet you near the Kakariko Graveyard; in my Mother's burial site. I hope to see you there. I will then initiate the proper Zora Appreciation Ritual. You are the first being to take part in this and not be a Zora. I will be waiting for you after the sun sets._

_Sincerely, Ralis."_

'The first one to not be a Zora?' Link thought to himself. Surely this was of great honor. Zoras had a 'Thanking Tradition'? Hmmm. Link read it over again. 'After the sun sets...' Looking up at the sky to check the sun's elevation in the sky and he noted that he still had a few hours to get ready for his little 'Meeting' with the Zora King.

"Well? What's it say? Tell us!" Exclaimed an energetic Talo; apparently, he left Epona at the ranch, which was the exact thing Link did not want.

"Now, now, Talo. You know better than to nose into other people business." Uli remarked, giving Link a smile. "I'm sorry, Link you could share with us only if you want to." The blond teen nodded at Uli and gave Talo a look that read 'We will talk about this later.' Right now Link needed to talk about this with the town mayor, Bo, and his good friend of old, Rusl, in private.

~~~~Time Lapse~~~~

"Ah, well Link," Bo started, "This really is an honor: to be the first human to be a part of a Zora-only tradition." Patting Link on the back while letting out a hearty laugh.

"Bo is right, Link," Rusl started. "This is serious. King Ralis is expecting you to be there. If you don't show up, not only will he be disappointed, but he'll also lose trust in you, and that's something you definitely don't want." Nodding, Link looked over to Bo to see if he had anything to add to this. His response was a nod with an approving 'Hmm!'

"Now hurry up Link! There is no such thing as 'too early'! I suggest you go get prepared for this meeting now. I will tell my daughter, Ilia, to help you." Bo gave a smile. At that precise moment was when Ilia chose to open the door to the house.

"Hi, Link. Hi Rusl. And as my dad said; I'll be happy to get you ready for the meeting with Prin- I mean; **King** Ralis." Ilia had an embarrassed look plastered onto her face and looked to the side while fiddling with her hands. "Sorry, I was dropping in on your conversation from behind the door..." Despite Ilia's eavesdropping; the blonde was still glad to see her.

Bo gave a short chuckle. "Nonsense Ilia! If anything: it's a boon. It helps save time. This way I won't have to explain everything to you, ha ha ha!"

At hearing this Ilia gave a relieved smile and walked up to Link and grasped his wrist. "C'mon Link! The sun may still be high in the sky, but the trek to Kakariko is a long one!" With that she ran out of the house with the poor hero struggling behind and gave short farewells to the two left inside.

Rusl turned to Bo and smirked. "You know... I remember a time when you and your wife were like that as little kids." Bo turned to Rusl after hearing this.

"Oh really? Well I recall a time when you and Uli went beyond the village border to 'gather flowers' which, I might say, lead to other 'things' that ended up in little devils growing in Uli's stomach." Bo gave a chuckle at seeing his friend's reaction.

Rusl clearly interpreted this as a challenge. "Hmm, well now that you think of it your 'night-time strolls around the village' didn't just involve you." At this Bo let out a look of astonishment.

"H-how did you know about that! Well you see here; I remember when you-" And so their little dispute continued as if they were once again children never knowing the boundaries of a social challenge.

~~~~Scene Change: Ordon Spring~~~~

"You know, you're very lucky to be given the honor of seeing Prince Ralis again..." Link noticed the honorific slip from Ilia's mouth but it went unnoticed from the other. Along with her mistake, he couldn't help but also notice a strange longing in Ilia's eyes. It seems she had grown quite attached to Ralis during the blonde's adventure to save Hyrule, and her memories. "I would go with you to see Ralis again; but this is a special occasion for you, so I'll wait for another time to come."

Link could only help but stay quiet; quite perplexed. 'Had she always been like this?' Link asked himself. Ilia only gave a smile. "Well," She started. "We can't be talking like this the entire time, can we? To get you ready you're going to have to bathe first we'll talk about everything else later. As they say: 'Bathing oneself in Ordon Springs brings luck, fortune, and various other blessings.' Or at least, that's how the legend goes, hee hee."

Link had remembered Bo always used to say that to all the little children in the village, but it was just to get them to take showers. Sometimes he wonders if what he said is true. By the time he was finished reminiscing about the past Ilia was walking out of Ordon Springs while saying something like 'Make sure to scrub behind your ears!' Link flustered and blushed, of course he would do that! He wasn't a little kid you know! He remembered Ilia had brought him the necessary items for him to properly take a bath in the springs, such a kind soul. And so he started working on step number one in getting ready to meet his Zora-friend.

~~~~Time Lapse and Scene Change: Link's House~~~~

Why she had decided she would wait for him in his house rather than in his yard... thing, was beyond him. Climbing the ladder to his house he'd give a huff as he finally reached the top. 'Since when was climbing my own ladder so time-consuming?' Shaking the wandering thought off he decided on entering the house rather than wait for Ilia to open the door for him. Entering the house he was greeted with the sight of Ilia sitting on a chair facing away from the door. As she heard the door creak open she turned around to meet Link's gaze.

"Oh Link! Done already?" She questioned him getting up from her chair and walking over to him. A nod was his only response. "Okay, great! Now that we have that out of the way we can work on how you'll be presented in front of Ralis." At hearing this Link let out a groan and slouched forward giving a pout. "Now Link! You know very well one has to dress appropriately for occasions such as these." She scolded him. "Unfortunately your wardrobe isn't the best in the village so I will help you, isn't that great?" Ilia excitedly exclaimed.

The blonde hero put on his best façade and nodded in agreement. 'How... wonderful..' He thought to himself. He also thought to himself why normal Ordon clothes wouldn't work, but he quickly banished that thought from his mind: he was going to meet Ralis, a King! Of course good clothing was in order. Link was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a thump in Ilia's direction. And there stood Ilia behind a ginormous mountain of what seems like... clothing?

'How did..! When did she..? Why didn't I..?' These and many more questions were racing through Link's mind as he stood looking at the scene jaw-slacked.

"Well! These clothes aren't going to try themselves on, so hurry up Link!" And so began the painfully long and, might he say, arduous effort of putting on 'something nice' as Ilia so quaintly put it. But to the blonde's surprise it didn't take all too long to find one both he and Ilia had an eye for. Now, now, asking her where she found this outfit might not be the best thing to do right now so he settled for giving her a nice big hug of appreciation.

"And look! It's not too late to get going. I had the little ones prepare Epona for the ride to Kakariko village, so you'll be able to leave immediately!"

'Ilia, if I wasn't so happy I can't talk I'd scream to you how much I love you right now.' But he settled for giving her a radiant smile and a kiss on the cheek, which left her completely flustered. Saying his quick thanks and goodbye to her and everyone else he saddled Epona and set off for Kakariko Village.

~~~~ Time Lapse and Scene Change: Kakariko Enterance~~~~

To say Link's ride here was full of anxiety and excitement was and understatement. At one point he thinks he even got off Epona and began to run to Kakariko Village himself just because his trusty steed wanted to rest by a near-by pond. 'Psh, trusty.. Yeah right..'

"Ahh Link. What brings you here?" Someone called out to him. It was Renado, a friend he was always happy to see. He began to explain everything seeing as he had the time. "I see, that sounds extremely honorous. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't be here idly chatting even if it _is _a little early. I wouldn't want to keep a King waiting."

While the hero did find some truth to that he was sure that being as early as it is gave him good reason to at least stop and greet a fellow friend.

"Well, I wouldn't want to keep you from your little date with King Ralis. Send my salutations to everyone back at Ordon Village if you would please." And with that Renado left Link to himself.

'A... a date.. with Ralis?' As odd as to why Renado chose his words the way he did Link couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps he _was _keeping Ralis waiting.. And hurry he must!

~~~~Scene Change: Kakariko Graveyard~~~~

Strange. He could have sworn it was earlier than this. Night had already fallen, giving the graveyard this eerily quiet atmosphere. This was certainly not good. He left Epona at the gates of the Graveyard so she wouldn't be feeling uneasy here, given the beliefs that animals could see wandering human souls and blah blah. 'Aaaand I think I just scared myself thinking of these things.' It seemed like an eternity until he reached the back of the cemetery. The small opening leading to his destined location stood beyond him almost as if staring at it would suffocate him. 'Must be the nerves.." Steeling himself for what was to come he took a deep breath and entered the Zora Burial Chamber.

Everything was as he remembered, even the lone standing figure facing away from him on the other side of the chamber. He easily recognized him as the Zora King, Ralis! He didn't know if he made a sound on his way inside but the Zora before him turned to face him.

"..." Ralis stared at Link in an observing manner. Needless to say, Link felt a little scrutinized under the gaze. At last Ralis let out a big sigh and with it, a small smile graced his lips. "Link." Ralis began. "Seeing you here relieves me." Link also smiled and gave a small laugh. He heard movement and he saw that, at some point, his friend had crossed the tiny body water between them.

Although the title of 'King' gave Ralis much authority, when it came to height differences, Link obviously had him beat. Ralis came closer and immediately embraced Link. Not to say the blonde didn't welcome this sort of affection from Ralis, but he really did **not** see this coming, but he hugged him back and briefly thought if this was itself the Thanking Ritual. Until Ralis separated with a blush and a downcast look.

"Sorry, I haven't seen the Zora-savior in so long my emotions took the better of me." Link went ahead and told him that an apology was not needed, and in fact, he encouraged Ralis to be more open with his feelings. "Thank you for understanding Link. Now, for the reason why we are here. This is a sacred and ancient tradition only done within Zora people." Ralis began informing Link. "But since you, Link, helped save the Zora from complete extinction. I have made the decision to allow this ancient ritual to accept you as one of us." Link nodded. "Good, both parties have given their consent. I ask you to remove any items you do not want to come in contact with water."

At this Link raised a puzzled eyebrow, but made no motive to question the Zora King. He removed only a small trinket he had as a good luck charm, his boots, and set them safely a distance away; as for his clothes... he didn't really care about those.

Ralis, seeing as Link would remove no other things, nodded but seemed a bit hesitant to move on the the next part. "I would ask you to join me in this little pool of water behind us, it's part of the tradition." After he saw the hero nod the Zora King turned around and sat on the edge of the earth and lowered himself lithely into the water without a sound. He hovered over to the middle to turn around and awaited for the blonde to join him. Link looked on before him, wondering what Ralis had in store for him. Mimicking Ralis, Link lowered himself onto the water much slower than the other as his body needed to accustom to the temperature difference. When he was ready he swam closer to the young Zora and looked him in the eyes.

"I'll start it now. It will take place underwater, unfortunately for you, so take this time to prepare yourself." After that Ralis dove underwater until his feet could touch the bottom of the pool, and stood there. Link did as he was told and soon joined Ralis, hoping this won't take too long.

Ralis took this as a sign to start and closed his eyes while placing his palms across his chest and began to concentrate. Soon he was faintly letting off a blue radiant light! Link couldn't believe his eyes! The water must be playing tricks on him. How is this possible? And as if things didn't already seem incredulous he saw what could be a little twister surrounding them, making the water circle around them and slowly speeding up. After those two things he thought that nothing could top this off when he suddenly heard a... lullaby? Oh, no. Link thought he was going crazy. Wait, this song... it sounded like a song sung in the ancient legends. 'A Serenade of Water?' There! That was the song! He looked to Ralis only to find him smiling, obviously taking joy in the blonde's confusion. As seconds passed all three oddities augmented in force: Ralis' glowing grew brighter, the currents around them were harsher and the song steadily rose in volume. Honestly, the blonde hero had no idea how, but he kept his calm and kept staring at Ralis, as if only he could calm Link even in this chaotic atmosphere. Ralis came closer to Link, actually Ralis came **close** to Link. If he tried, he bet he could rub his nose against Ralis' with a minor effort on his part.

Link didn't realize he was running low on oxygen until he felt his chest compress. He was definitely going to panic. However Ralis seemed eerily calm. He took one of Link's hand in both of his eliciting a questioning gaze from the other. Link noted Ralis' skin was smooth to the touch and comforting. 'Do Zora have this effect on everyone?' He tried his best to gain his composure during even in this hectic situation. And with the young King's enchanting gaze Link thinks he's calmed down enough to notice that their bodies were actually touching.. embracing? Or was this because of the lack of oxygen in his system? Nevertheless, their bodies melded together, in perfect sync. The Zora's natural feminine body against his own. Like two missing pieces made whole with each other. Everything seemed so right at the moment nothing seemed wrong. Everything around them was nothing and they were each others' everything. He didn't know when but he grabbed Ralis by his waist and pressed him flush against his own body. The young Zora noble wrapped his arms around Link's neck staring into his blue orbs with nothing short of admiration. And slowly but surely he drew closer to his face and pressed his lips against Link's. It stayed like this for the first few moments, the feelings they were both bombarded by were just beyond unknown, they were... perfect. Ralis found it completely shocking when he felt Link lick and nip at his lower lip, but he granted the other entrance with no resistance. The Hylian loved it this way. But that didn't mean the Zora King wouldn't play with the Hero. In the midst of all of this it was found out that Zora are actually like plants! They exhale oxygen, a tremendous boon for Link! The couple were lip-locked and oblivious to anything around them when all of the sudden Link had a strange feeling. A _very _strange feeling he didn't know what but he felt oddly at ease underwater, like it was home... home? This wasn't home...

Needless to say Link was confused. He separated from those heavenly lips of Ralis' to note that everything had stopped: the glowing, the rapids, and the melody. All gone as if they never happened. Link was the first to resurface, and get to land. Ralis following suit.

The Hero turned to look at Ralis but was met with an elephant, metaphorically. No doubt this was awkward for them both, with the whole underwater incident. Ralis was the first to speak and it didn't sound like his normal Zora friend. This one sounded broken, sad, shattered, and ashamed.

"L-Link, I... I am... truly and sincerely sorry for what I have done. I.. I never meant for this to happen, you must understand." Wait, what? This was an appreciation ritual, not an apologizing treaty. Surely kissing, err, involving tongue, was not something to be this sincerely sorry for, was it? "I don't know what came over me... actually I know exactly what took me over, and I might have just thrown away what friendship I have with you away..." Link was definitely getting scared now, there is no way he should be apologizing for such a little (not so little) slip up. The hero's face said it all. 'An explanation was needed.' The Zora King took a big sigh. "I should explain. During the phase of the Acceptation Ritual, one's own feelings are stronger, and our minds are fogged of rational thinking, not to mention; we are easily swayed by our emotions. Or at least, that's what the Zora experience. In this case my feelings for you were not of a comrade, or friend, but something more, they were admiration... and love... I was not able to control myself and jumped on you, took advantage of your helpless state. And transmogrified you. In more ways than one... I'm-I-I'm s-sooo.." At this Ralis dropped onto his knees and began to cry. Seeing him like this tore Link apart, and so he did what anyone else would do. He knelt down and embraced the sobbing too-young king whilst telling him it will all be settled soon.

'How does he know all of this? Has this happened before? Well, he **did** say I was the only human to participate in this event. Trans-... in more ways than one? What is going on exactly?' He was not sure if he tried to console his young Zora friend or if he was only saying this to expel any doubt that might have surfaced in mind, but he still did it.

"No Link! It will not! Now, you are not whom you were, I've changed you! You may not feel it; but I see it!" Little Ralis lost his composure, but what did he mean? "When the Goddesses created the Zora and bestowed them with this sacred tradition they explained to our great fore-fathers that this Ritual would affect any whom participated. Regardless of race." The Zora King seemed to have regained some of himself, but one could easily tell he was not in a stable state of mind. The young King raised his hands and placed them on the blonde's neck. Ralis seemed scared; almost as if Link would hurt him. "Link.. the appreciation ritual did not go as planned. It changed the minute we... connected. It went from giving you special privileges within the Zora community and accepting you as our special savior, to bestowing upon you... the ability to breathe in water. On your neck are gills to prove it." After saying that Ralis retracted his hands, scooted away some, and looked away in shame.

Immediately Link reached up to feel at his throat. He could feel them! The gills! This raised countless questions in Link. So many in fact: he was unable to voice them. The look on his friend's face showed him just how terrible he must have felt. To virtually ruin a friend's life because of a tiny accident. And now that he thought of it: what exactly compelled the blonde to kiss the young Zora before him. Surely not all was his fault. He never thought of a love life really; he was either too young to look for someone, or he was off chasing evil. Hell, now that he thought about it, for both of them: they were their respective first kiss.

'It didn't feel wrong. I don't have a sense of remorse. Maybe I've been different; but never even noticed it..' He **had** to tell Ralis this, he couldn't withstand looking at his friend like this.

"Link, this... change in your identity occurred the very instant I let my feelings overwhelm my rational thoughts. It's almost as if we've woven our souls together to never be separated. It's like the human tradition of marriage. Now do you see the severity of the situation? You can no longer go about with your normal life. I have ruined your life.." At this moment it dawned on Link that this _boy_ before him was still just a _boy!_ The burden of thinking of such a malicious thought... it shouldn't even cross in his young mind, let alone come from his mouth! He looked like he could be perhaps 3 or maybe 4 years younger than Link. But he had already been declared King, discovered he was different in terms of whom he devoted his love to, had both parents pass away, convinced himself he ruined the blonde's life, had accidentally married Link, and was on the verge of **dieing** once!

His friend did not have a very pleasant life up to yet. The blonde thought some more to himself. 'I can't see him like this, he's had a life no young adult should have. I can't do anything about this now. If we could we certainly wouldn't be here standing.' And so Link made up his mind. 'I can't say I feel the same about him as he does me, but maybe this was _meant _to happen!' The hero suddenly came to the realization! And so he began to once again convince that not everything was as horrible as the Zora made it out to be.

"L-Link? You... are not distraught with my earlier news?" Link offered his earlier realization to the young king. "I see... Perhaps this may _have_ meant to happen." Accepting this the young Zora King raised himself from the ground and smiled down upon Link, helping him up. "Thank you... for doing what you have done. You, by some divine power, saw beyond this a just a 'terrible mistake' you brought out the good that even I couldn't see. You've made me the happiest I've ever been in my life. Thank you.. Link."

The blonde hero wasted no time in embracing his Zora. His. Ralis. The blonde hero decided that if he was going to change Ralis' life it might have to start now. With a single deft movement of Link's hand the Zora's chin was tilted upwards and he planted a kiss on those soft and tender lips he'd come to meet underwater. And to him it made no difference where he was. He oddly enjoyed the sensation of being so close to his mate. The hero separated from the other's face and pecked him on the forehead. Leaving a shocked and bewildered Ralis to stare at him. It's funny how fast one's feelings could change about another. "Ralis, for you. I would do anything to make you happy."


End file.
